The Net on The Island
Installation and performance, 2024

Long ago, a spider wove its way through our beings, spinning a web within us from lotus-threaded silk. Since that moment, the soul has flowed through a shared body, binding us all. This is the story of the island.

"The Net on the Island" is a site-specific art performance that takes place on Shuangyu Island in Zhangzhou Technological and Economic Development Zone, utilizing mediums and technologies such as fibers, lights, and 3D-printed machinery. The performance aims to present the post-human concept of the "Shared Soul Network," where the soul is envisioned as a shared, boundary-less energy that flows between human and non-human bodies.

In the first part of the performance, The Pasture, a performer wears a special tail device and enters the Senqiu pasture on Shuangyu Island to interact with the children and animals there. In the second part, The Bridge, the performer walks onto an abandoned bridge on the island. Under the influence of geomagnetic signals (which I interpret as the physical manifestation of soul flow), the tails, extensions of the performers' body, begin to sway in the wind. As the electrical signals of the performers’ body fluctuates, the "earth acupuncture point" made of light and fiber also begins to flicker. In this moment, the boundaries between human and non-human bodies seem to dissolve and weave together.

In the final part, The Campsite, the performer sits on an empty stage. The light flowing through the tail flickers, and the energy of the soul appears to move between the performer and the earth. Although there is no visible audience beneath the empty stage, it feels as if they are being observed by countless invisible presences. Through this performance, I aim to reveal a new relationship between humans and non-humans. Whether the island, the earth, children, animals, artifacts, or humans, we all share a common body. We are all posthuman."

- WANG Yi